Tumblr and Possibilianism

It has indeed been awhile, Blogspot... and I apologize for that.
I have recently moved, for the most part, to Tumblr (as it demands much less formality and more 'spur of the moment' kind of things without seeming out-of-place amongst the many well-written articles within my blog).
But that doesn't mean I'm moving away from Blogspot; simply expanding.

Tumblr also allows for detailed insight into my personal life without sacrificing opinion and privacy.
But beyond all of this, I'd like to speak about my newly self-imposed label. I no longer consider myself vaguely 'Atheistic.' Let me give you a bit of a back-story...

When I was about 10, I was a casual and blatantly indifferent Christian due to the influence exercised over me by my casually Christian mother (prior to this, I'd say I was an agnostic by default, as I was blissfully unaware of religious and secular complexities and teachings). For about a year I indifferently followed the teachings of an Anglican Church, until around the time I was 12 when I began to question the Church using my recently discovered intellectual abilities which were still in their infantile stages of formation.
For over a year, I experienced an internal struggle as I began to realize most of the Church's teachings, however empathic and caring, were mostly rooted in bullshit mythologies and blind faith... in fact, that was what finally sparked my full disconnection from the Church; an incident in which I asked an entirely valid question and the response I got was, "is a little blind faith to much to ask?"

At this point, my limited perspective and rebellious attitude caused me to swing directly towards the beliefs of a strict atheist, in which I looked at all religions in a condescending light, and saw all religious individuals as deluded idiots who truly didn't understand the world or the universe they lived in, and simply used religion as a tool to fill their empty hearts and minds. One observation that I made at that time that sticks with me to this day, is the fact that any dogmatic religion is simply a license to stop looking for the true meaning (or meanings) of life, as one may simply not wish to search any further due to the intellectual hardships they may endeavor, or, perhaps, they fear they may look and discover that it is all truly meaningless in the end.
It is also a very real possibility that they are simply lazy. I believe it really depends on the person.

But getting back to the main story arc here, I ran into inevitable conflict at home with my mother who, at one point I remember, ended up slamming the door to my bedroom whilst screaming "Atheists don't get dinner!"
Kind of funny in retrospect.
Anyways, over time, I exposed myself to many different ideas, and my mind become much more open as my personal wisdom grew from that of an insecure 8th Grader to that of an eager and interested 11th Grader.
Although my personal label as an Atheist persisted until the first month of my Grade 12 year, I was already shifting towards separate possibilities with my increased understanding of quantum physics and religion alike.
In the end, my personal label only loosened slightly as I decided to alter it from "Atheist" to "Atheistic," which I thought to be more open to interpretation to those who might simply throw me off as close-minded to theirs and others ideas otherwise.

But a much more significant change occurred tonight, and it occurred in a flash; sort of like a personal revolution in which reform is introduced, yet the old and tried system is not entirely tossed-out, as it still has much credibility and successes of understanding in the past to boot.
No, I am not anywhere near becoming a Theist... but a certain little book has opened up my eyes to Voltaire's assertion that 'doubt may be uncomfortable, but certainty is absurd.'

That book is Sum by David Eagleman.

It has altered my outlook to this simple observation: we, as humans, know too much to adhere to any sort of religion, yet too little to adhere strictly to atheism... and although I can comprehend the idea of simply dying, I realize that I may be wrong and, like Bill Maher, I should preach the Bible of 'I don't know, and neither do you, so stop pretending you do know,' (which is where the 'Atheistic' part of this following label still applies, as I wish to differentiate myself from all established world religions and established religious beliefs, yet not entirely discount their credibility in comparison to anything else anyone could believe in).

It is for these reasons that I now declare myself an 'Atheistic Possibilian.'   

Aesthetic Athletics

Dice the dead mans diligence like a Dillinger or Challenger,

He gained a Dodge Wrangler like a sad handler of emotions;

Perhaps all of this is more potent than potions or consumer hand lotions plus alcoholic haphazard;

Yet I consider the price of anything to be lice on everything,

Like a fat woman’s sullen song,

The sounds still ring in the lingering enclave of my eardrums,

Which breathe waves like air into my lungs.

It’s sundown,

And therefore, I’ll see you soon;

Yes, I’ll see you soon, moon.

So very soon. 

On Boredom

Talking to friends via Facebook or MSN, I’ve asked them ‘whats up?’ and had the response, ‘oh, not to much, just being bored’ to a degree that seems unnaturally staggering to me; before I respond in kind with that I’m up too, I say to them, ‘Don’t be bored!’ only to be told-off with “Kyran, why do you have such an issue with boredom?”
And man, why do I have such an issue with boredom? Where the hell do I start?
Boredom, in most cases, is experienced by privileged individuals living in the rich international phenomenon known as the ‘Western world,’ where we have clean, running water, television, video games, the internet, computers, health-care, school, libraries, and democracies to name only a few of our major benefits. But that’s not my only issue with boredom. 
Were a poor African farm-boy to tell me he was bored, I would think along the same lines as I do when my incredibly privileged friends tell me the same thing, because boredom is like saying to yourself and the world that ‘All of this isn’t enough.’
And when the world you live in just isn’t enough… when your life is dull… you are not living any sort of ideal; you are becoming selfish and inwards. 
‘All of this isn’t enough.’

I’d say I’m pretty fucking privileged to be here. Life is a matter of a miracle that is collected over time by moments flabbergasted to be in each others presence. During the Second World War, my grandfather went to a Ballroom Dance in Liverpool because that was where he just so happened to be stationed. While there, he met a sweet young lady named Lucy whom he danced with for the rest of the night. To be brief and skip about 5 years in-between, they ended up getting married and having their first child, Christopher, in 1956. Christopher grew up in England until he was 12, after which my grandfather got a job as an engineer working with an oil company in Zambia, which is where they departed too and ended up living for a fair amount of years. During their time there, Lucy and my grandfather, Clifford, had a second child named Paul. 
Eventually, Christopher moved back to England to live with his aunt and uncle as so he could attend a boarding school in the county of Kent. 
To make this briefer, lets skip forward a few years… after the family has been re-united and has moved to the small town of Powell River. There, Christopher finishes his high-schooling and moves down the coast to Vancouver. During his 2 decades in the city, he attended a party and met a woman named Patricia. They hit it off, and, wha-la, 2 or 3 years later they’re married, and a year or 2 after that, they have their first child… me. Kyran Paterson-King.
I’d call that chain of coincidence pretty fucking amazing… and it’s happening all the time. And for me, it’s more than enough… this life is such an incredible privilege. Being conscious and biologically alive is an incredible phenomena on it’s own… I am pretty Goddamn thankful.

"When the God's came around, to blow me down"

"You're gonna be famous one day, kid. I know it."
"You think so?"
"Out of everyone I've ever known, you've got that energy. If you don't become something great, I think you'd be betraying the nature of who you are."
"Well, thanks. I really appreciate that."
"You're a catalyst. Live for the sake of us all."

*   *   *

I find my inspiration at night, at midnight, while I listen to the moon rise and watch the music flow through my eyes, and I think to myself; "What a wonderful world."

What a wonderful world...

Time's Essence (seems Diluted and Refuted)

The send and receive signal is blinking,
And the single mind is syncing to the altered pose of the twinkling stars above,
Via the screen and LED beams that stream into the seams of your consciousness.

Your brain is blessed,
Yet lacks the zest of wisdom once residing in your soul;
Outdated like coal, the role of the toll booth is old and invalid,
Like the side-dish of salad,
Replaced by the rancid infection of fast food,
What a bad mood society must be in.
You may die of respiratory inefficiency,
But you've got me to inform your next of kin.

You're not as blind as I would like you to be,
Yet you don't see as clearly as is necessary,
So I'm wary of your willful ignorance, as it's frightening and malignant,
Yet the signals sent don't pay my rent so I vent by waiting on Clark Kent to save the day,
He's on his way, right, Sir Gawain? Right, brave knight? Sir knight? Am I right?

Irrelevant,
So, for the hell of it,
I descend into a hedonistic viewpoint stuck in a pit,
Of what I call economically unsound wit;
Perhaps a writ of notice regarding my upcoming eviction,
They punish those who find pleasure in a lack of plight,
and claim their sanity is out of sight;
Well, fuck you too,
I'll stage a coup so you can be you, through and through.

Please, freedom;
I need you to unlock the cages at this human zoo,
Because the free of us are too few,
And the few of us are who?

Speak up.
For the love not of God, but of life, speak up.

Hindsight

In hindsight, I see it's corrected,
With the good and bad men's motives now fully erected;
The good men aren't always those who are elected,
Yet their moral compasses find no extreme connected.

In hindsight, my blindness dissipates into sense;
Perhaps it is make-shift,
But it's worth my two cents,
So your questions of credit, or crimes to be commit,
Find themselves discovered by those who now sit
In a room of deep silence,
Or the buzz of white-noise;
Hindsight reveals all lies, and recreates all old ploys.

Limbo

I call this one the limbo week,
Where everything lies on the verge, on the peak
of an outbreak of sorts; the end of an era,
Staring out towards the French Riviera,
Still waiting.

My Words Seem so Stuck, and my Actions Amuck.

How do I give traction to this estranged attraction?
Do I put my thought into action, and gauge her reaction?
Or is looking to date, for me, a risky transaction?
I keep pushing these feelings into blatant abstraction,
And I'm sorry.

I'm bad, at this point, with our interaction,
It lacks a consistency,
Yet withholds sporadic satisfaction,
And I'm not all that sure on how to approach you,
Every time I'm around you, it seems the uneasy stages a coup inside my head,
And proves it don't pay to be well-read, if the words you have learned seem to remain unsaid,
How silly.

How can we win, when fools can be kings?

Stephen Harper has won an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons this most recent election. So, there goes the old stereotype of a liberalistic Canada, eh?

I'm not even quite what sure to say, except this... democracy is the worst form of government, except all those that have been tried. This election saw a 60% voter turnout, 40% of which voted Conservative. That means that 24% of the population of Canada is Harper's so-called 'majority' government, and that apathy is to blame for the plutocratic oligarchy that has now arisen, unexpected and out of nowhere, from an otherwise quiet Monday night.

Every time I compare Harper to Hitler, it's not out of any wish to actually say Harper is as evil of a mother fucker as Hitler was... I doubt Harper is evil at all, just arrogant and full of himself like most Conservatives that convince themselves that they know best. I compare Harper to Hitler only to make this clear statement: both are good for the economy, but tremendously bad for the people.
As a result of the 'Harper Government,' as I should now call it, considering it is probably no longer known (officially) as the 'Government of Canada,' Canada is involved in 3 wars, and counting. That's 3 different hot-zones of state-sanctioned violence and murder.

During this past election, every party did, indeed, attempt to get the 'lowest common denominator' to rally behind them... but the difference between the Conservatives and the other parties (save for maybe the Liberal's under Michael Ignatieff) is that the NDP, Bloc Quebecois, and Green Party all tried to appeal to the more educated and socially aware of us, as well as tried to appeal to the 'lowest common denominator,' whilst the Conservatives (and to be fair, yet again, Michael Ignatieff's Liberals) appealed only to the lowest common denominator using shallow promises of things the politically ignorant populace hardly understood the implications of. In a democracy, if you can get the lowest common denominator to rally behind you, you can do practically whatever the fuck you want... and I'll give that to Harper, he's one crafty little mother fucker, and sure knows how to take advantage of peoples ignorance effectively. Not that it should be anything for him to be proud of, however (albeit I bet he is).

I'll also give something else to the Conservatives; their ability to get out to the polling station in droves and vote. The fact that the entire Canadian right-wing is represented under one party kind of helps the Conservatives on issues of unity, unlike the Canadian left, which is fragmented into 3 to 5 different parties, and makes it that much easier for the right to win as a vote-split is more likely than everyone agreeing on a single party to go for in federal elections.

The Canadian youth are finally growing up, however, and 4 years from now (if not before), the youth will rise up en masse and shove the Conservative majority up Stephen Harper's ass and out his mouth. The era of the baby-boomer's is coming to an end, and the age of youth apathy is also slipping away. Don't believe me? Look to the youth fighting and dying for their freedoms in North Africa and the Middle East.

The world is changing, and although the informed among us lost this battle, we haven't lost the war.  

Livin' in the 21st Century

That pretty much sums it up right there- the tag-line to the War on Terror we've all been waiting for.
But it boggles my mind, as I watch CNN and witness the parades of euphorically jubilant people celebrating the death of someone they feel dealt them a terrible wrong. It's patriotism gone mad when people decide to celebrate the violent end of any human being on this planet, especially when the cost has been so high in financial and human regards.

Ok, sure. Somewhere along the lines of 3000 people lost their lives on 9/11, and if were taking into account those who started it (providing the numerous conspiracy theories are wrong, and 9/11 was not an inside job), Osama bin Laden is guilty. But if were talking in the sense of who killed more people senselessly, the United States (as well as their affiliate allies, which includes multinational UN 'peace-keepers,' and yours truly, Canada) takes the gold.

The civilian deaths in Iraq, as a result of the American military, is somewhere around 151,000. 151,000! That's insane! If you subtract the amount of people killed on 9/11 from the above death-toll, it brings it down to only 149,000. That's barely a dent in that figure, and it says something quite provocative about the situation in the Middle East, and leaves you wondering... who are the real terrorists? Honestly?

In the period between 2001 and 2003 alone, over 23,000 civilians died as a result of Allied military actions in Afghanistan during 'Operation: Enduring Freedom.'     

The world is a very, very silly place. Seriously... it's absolutely insane. The strange part is, that's part of what makes it so incredible.

Osama bin Laden is Dead

Osama bin Laden is dead.
That pretty much sums it up right there- the tag-line to the War on Terror we've all been waiting for;
The adherent doctrine dealt out like a decoration to add decor to the death and destruction distributed so freely like health care should be,
But isn't because Fox News and the Tea Party see it differently;
"The only thing that should be free is the freedom to spread freedom against the wishes of the oppressed by utilizing force of arms to instill upon them a will to fight what we see as their evil sheikdoms,"
Stage 1 in a dramatic ensemble of violence all directed at the elimination of human toil in pursuit of the spoils of unjust construction,
A naive assumption based on silly presumptions against Islam in conjunction to the real world.

Osama bin Laden is dead.
A euphorically jubilant crowd applauds outside the steps of the White House,
And I listen with incrementation as the news station sponsors discrimination to add flames to the hate machine,
And I wonder;
Can we not just cut the cake? Clean the slate of the human race just to cut to the chase and reach the release we sought in world peace in the first place?
Probably not, as it is our woes that have brought men from silver to gold, modest to bold, caring to cold, and 'on sale' to 'sold' in this system.

And I can't accept that.

It would be a different case if my sad face brought a poor man back to first base in terms of sustaining the ability to remain within the mile-high club that is the human race,
Or if my woes brought all poverty stricken panic from financial rags, to spiritual riches,
Instead of all this shit where people are paid to dig ditches just so, in turn, they begin to build bridges over said ditches simply to stimulate an abstract mathematical construct a few inches further from rock bottom.

Osama bin Laden is dead.
For the past ten years, what ground did he tread?
Not a lot; at least in comparison to his pursuers who tread streets full of hot lead and bloody head's, each still scarred with a lingering dread left unsaid;
And so vivid, is the anger, so vivid the hate and horrors of war, to the point that one is beyond asking 'what is this all for?' and simply hits the floor as rockets whiz by like angry boars, and bullets shatter walls and kill at a pace that a pill couldn't heal your soon to be charred corpse,
And life looses all meaning;
War is no longer a late-night TV show screening, it's men and women screaming with their guts spilled and steaming,
And the tears don't suffice, as everything cuts deep like a knife to symbolize this endless strife,
The trial and tribulation.

But, don't fool yourself.
Osama bin Laden is dead, he was shot in the head, now all the men and women can go back home to their countries and back to their own beds,
To night terrors instead, as they realize their sanity is caught on a thread,

But the truth still remains quite complacent;
As it is the truth that is adjacent to the lies of news stations and corporations looking to make a dime off the fall of a nation,
All caught in a frenzied impatience at how long the castration of the Haitians is taking to make a dollar towards their next Palm Springs vacation,
And all the concentration, under-the-radar conversations or over-the-top public declarations at anti-capitalist demonstrations, whether in New York City or the Appalachians,
Goes unheeded amidst Wal-Mart's new decorations, or the Palestinian deportations, or Quaran desecration's carried out by ignorant delegations filled with a fundamentalist generation of observations,
So we're blind.

Amidst all this truth, we are blind.
And to this day, my head still sways at how insane we make this world with our memes and the capacity of our brains that go unharnessed in our head,
But none of this really matters, does it?
Because Obama said Osama is finally dead.